Saga of The Traveler- Savior
by Master-Magician
Summary: A strange visitor arrives and for unknown reasons stays with The Avengers for a time.
1. Arrival

**First foray into the fandom of The Avengers.**

**For those who read my other story "Mortality" from the Forever fandom, this story has another appearance of The Traveler, Endymion. This time alongside The Avengers. **

**Everyone else just enjoy the read. **

**Now I am an avid Steve/Natasha shipper. However I am not sure if this story will have a romance subplot or just best friends. Either way they are really close. Let me know what you all think in the reviews. I can go either way. **

**Enjoy.**

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"Status?"

"Five minutes to the drop Captain Rogers."

Steve nodded his head at the words. He glanced over at the other occupants of the quinjet. Of the avengers he and Natasha were the only two present. Thor would meet them there but the rest of the avengers were busy on other assignments or projects. Everyone else on board were normal SHIELD agents in assault gear.

The mission was fairly simple. A group of rogue Asgardians had stolen a powerful prototype weapon from the vaults of Asgard and fled to earth. The weapon would be devastating but thankfully it was only a prototype and was not supposed to be functional. The numbers they were going against was a toss up between twenty and thirty, no one was really sure.

Steve was still a bit nervous though. These were Asgardians they were dealing with. He had sparred with Thor enough times to know that these guys would be extremely tough. This was why Thor pretty much told them he would be going on this mission with them as soon as he was able to catch up.

Across the aisle from Steve sat Natasha. The women with fiery tresses was slowly drumming her fingers on her knees until she caught Steve's eyes on her. She flashed him a smile with a wink.

Before Steve had a chance to say something to the female avenger the quinjet suddenly lurched as the pilot cursed loudly. "What the hell was that! Evasive maneuvers!"

Steve felt the aircraft twist again mid-air but this time the vehicle shook heavily.

"We're taking heavy fire! Weapon is operational. I repeat, weapon is operational!" The pilots were yelling to both the assault team in back and Fury on the radio.

The Asgardians had it working? That was not supposed to be possible according to Thor. If they had it working then this fight was about to get a lot harder.

"Get us on the ground!" Steve yelled. If they were hit while in the air and crashed they were doomed. Steve had a good chance of surviving that but not everyone on board was a super soldier. They needed to get in on this fight and now.

"Workin' on it captain." The quinjet pulled another sharp turn that, had Steve not been strapped in, would have thrown him both against the ceiling and the opposite wall.

SHIELD pilots were good, but all it took was a single lucky shot and they would go down. They were good yes, but no one was perfect. If they did not get on the ground then eventually they would be taken out of the sky.

"All units, once on the ground I'll take out the guy with the gun. The rest of you fan out and eliminate any hostiles in the area." Steve gave out the orders to the men in his assault team. He did not need to pass a single word on to Natasha. She would know exactly where to go and what to do.

Steve had to give the men some credit, few showed signs of fear or unease. These were Asgardians after all, the same men that could throw a human around like a ragdoll.

Steve again found himself wishing Thor would arrive already. His help against his fellow Asgardians would be invaluable. Not to mention the presence of a third avenger would bolster morale quite a bit among the SHIELD agents.

Perhaps the sight of the prince of Asgard would even make the rogue group surrender. Thor had told him once that that happened before, maybe it would again.

Either way, if the quinjet did not reach solid ground soon then the Asgardian taking potshots at them was going to get lucky.

"So Steve, how's your day been?" Natasha asked across the way with an arched eyebrow.

Despite the fact that they were in a flying tin can being shot at, Steve found himself laughing. Only Natasha would act so nonchalant at a time like this.

"Just fine, how about yours?" Steve responded with a small grin.

Now Natasha was laughing.

Before she got a chance to speak then quinjet shook once more, but a lot heavier this time. Steve felt the aircraft start a swift nosedive toward the ground. Steve did not need to hear the pilots screaming to know what had happened.

They had been hit.

"All hands brace for impact!"

Steve knew he would be fine, it would take a lot more than a quinjet crash to really critically injure or harm him. In truth he was more worried for the redhead across the way. She was strong yes but she was still human.

Natasha flashed him another smile with a thumbs up. She knew him too well to not know what he was thinking.

Steve was going to try to say something but just then they hit the ground.

Hard.

Steve hit his head fairly heavily upon impact, but he was only slightly dazed nothing more. Hitting the emergency release on his harness he climbed to his feet.

"You, get on the radio and get word to fury. If Thor or backup don't get here soon we're in deep trouble." Steve began giving out orders. "Everyone else on your feet, those still capable of doing so rally by the door. We're about to have company."

Most of the men were injured but there did not seem to be any casualties. Almost everyone however was sporting some kind of injury.

When Steve's eyes fell on Natasha they shot wide open in terror.

Steve had been expecting her to be up already, already checking her weapons and moving over to the door with the other uninjured men. Still smiling and saying the Asgardians were going to have to try harder next time.

Instead he was greeted with the sight of Natasha still strapped in her seat. A long shard of metal protruding from her abdomen and blood slowly running from her lips.

"Nat!" Steve was beside her in an instant. One of the other SHIELD operatives was already on her other side.

"Hey... Steve..." Natasha spoke slowly with heavy breaths and a surprising small smile. The fact that she was not screaming in pain spoke volumes to just how tough she was.

Steve gently took hold of her hand and squeezed softly, a gesture she returned with a tiny, weak squeeze of her own.

"Hey Nat." Steve did not have any idea what else to say, thankfully the other SHIELD agent spoke up.

"It missed anything vital from what I can tell, she will be fine for now but the moment its removed she'll bleed to death fast. We need an emergency medivac, and soon." The agent was not trying to sound cruel, simply telling the truth.

Steve responded with a nod. Hopefully some progress was being made with that radio. Natasha's life might just depend on it.

A heavy thud from the back of the quinjet caught Steve's attention. When he looked over, Steve saw that some of the uninjured men had managed to get the back ramp open. It was a step in the right direction at least.

Giving Natasha's hand one last soft squeeze, the super soldier made his way over to the man at the radio. He was not having much luck, the radio was busted in the crash. If they were lucky it was fixable and they could call in backup but it was going to some time.

Time Natasha may not have.

"Captain! Big problem!"

Steve rushed toward the back of the quinjet where the ramp was down. Two of the only uninjured members of the assault team were crouched at the opening with weapons drawn. He followed the men's gaze out, his eyes shot open.

Out of the frying pan and into the fire.

The quinjet had crashed in an open field, but that was not the issue. The real problem was the force of more than twenty Asgardians arrayed before them.

Steve never wished for Thor to make an unexpected appearance more than he did now.

To make matters worse, towards the back of the Asgardians there was a taller one holding a large weapon of some kind. It reminded Steve of a flamethrower, it consisted of a large backpack with a wire hooked to a tube like device in the Asgardian's hands.

Steve chose to hazard a guess that the weapon they were warned about was this device.

The super soldier lifted his shield up and held it aloft. This was bad, if that weapon was as strong as they thought it was, enough to bring a quinjet down, Steve was unsure if even his shield would be enough to stop it.

Even if it was, the odds were not in their favor. It was three men against over twenty Asgardians. Steve would be able to fight many of them but not enough. To make matters worse, if even one got past them everyone else was wounded and unable to fight.

The alien weapons soon began to glow as if charging for a shot.

Steve quickly ordered the two men behind him. If the Asgardians were going to try to kill them, they would have to get past him first.

Over his dead body.

Steve felt time nearly stop as the weapon released a large burst of energy directly at him. Steve lifted and gripped his shield tightly, moving his head behind it and closing his eyes.

He heard the sound of the weapon discharging but after several moments, the blast still never came.

Slowly lowering the shield, Steve risked a look at their attackers. He did not fully understand what he was seeing.

A man had appeared in front of him by a couple dozen feet, the only physical detail that could be seen was the long black coat that he wore. What the newcomer was doing is what confused Steve. He held an arm up, as if holding a shield of his own, but instead of a solid object there was a pale blue light coming forth from his arm forming a barrier larger than the crashed quinjet. The Asgardian weapon's shot had hit the phantom barrier stopping it dead in its tracks.

The laser like weapon was still railing against the shield but did not seem able to breach it. As the beam lingered on it, the light began to glow brighter and brighter with each passing moment.

The stranger stood still as a statue, if he felt the alien weapon through the shield, it seemed he was creating, he did not show it.

Soon the beam faltered and went out. The Asgardians were staring in utter disbelief, the same exact expression Steve and the two SHIELD agents wore.

The glowing shield did not drop however.

A few moments after the beam stopped its attack, the man swiftly lowered his arm. Then in a flash of movement he thrust his opposite palm forward against the barrier. At first it shattered like glass, but in the blink of an eye it exploded and released a massive discharge of energy.

Straight at the Asgardians.

The aliens standing in the front of the group were obliterated on impact of the wave of energy. The ones behind them were blown off their feet like ragdolls. Then the ones further to the back were shoved back several steps.

Steve watched it total shock. Whoever this man was just took down almost half of the Asgardian pirates in a single attack.

Before Steve could have another thought, the mystery man was already moving. In a flash, he pulled two short blades from beneath his coat and hurled both weapons, with only a few second delay between throws, straight toward the group of Asgardians.

Both knives sailed through the group of aliens, somehow missing all of them, and hitting the one holding the powerful cannon. The first blade lodged in his shoulder, sending the Asgardians holding the weapon spinning down to the ground. This allowed the second weapon to hit the power source on his back.

The moment the blade hit the backpack, the Asgardian carrying it began to frantically try to pull it off himself. He was not fast enough, the device exploded and completely _annihilated_ him as well as a few more around him.

In just two attacks, the newcomer had taken down more than three quarters of the Asgardians.

Steve did not know what to say or do. If this man turned on them, Steve was not sure he would be able to fight him off. He obviously possessed powers of some kind but to what extent he had no clue. Enough to represent a dire threat should be decide he wanted to do more than decimate Asgardians.

Thor had better arrive fast.

The man's next move was to reach behind his neck, he pulled a small metallic rod from beneath the material of the coat. With a flick of his wrist, the weapon extended until it was almost his height.

Steve had enough time to blink before he saw the man charging the Asgardians.

The aliens were certainly not expecting the frontal attack. Especially since many were still trying to get back to their feet.

Moments before the stranger reached the Asgardians, he disappeared from sight for a fraction of a second before reappearing behind one of the first Asgardians to try to intercept him. The alien was instantly struck with a heavy blow from the quarterstaff to the back of the head.

He went down instantly.

Two more try to jump him from behind but he twirled around with inhuman speed. The first ones sword was swatted aside by the staff, while the second one lifted an axe for a heavy overhead chop but the man again vanished from sight to appear behind the two just like the other one. Shoving his staff forward between the two Asgardians he spun again, this time striking one in the stomach and the other in the back. He moved in the reverse before the pair could react, hitting both the opposite way they were hit first. While they were dazed the man disappeared and reappeared once more, this time in front of them both. He struck both in the face with his staff at once.

That time the pair went down, the entire battle against the duo taking place over the course of a few seconds. Almost faster than Steve could see.

Asgardians were supposed to be extremely durable, so much so that a human almost did not have a chance to defeat one in melee combat like this.

Steve was beginning to doubt this newcomer was even human. Perhaps he was another friendly Asgardian like Thor? If so the backup was certainly appreciated.

Barely a handful of the Asgardians now remained, but these were taken down just as brutally and just as swift as the first three.

As soon as they were all down the stranger shortened the staff with another flick of the wrist. He then began walking toward Steve and the downed quinjet.

As he moved, one of the downed Asgardians attempted to rise back to his feet. The man did not even look, instead he pulled a revolver like pistol from under his coat and pointed it at the Asgardian. The weapon shot out a green burst of energy, killing the alien instantly.

The whole time he did not once cease or slow his approach of Steve.

The first thing that Steve noticed about the man when he got closer was his eyes. They were a gleaming silver. The next detail to catch his attention was the strange markings covering his neck and throat. The front of his coat was open, if Steve was correct, then he was wearing some kind of combat armor under that coat. Along with god only knows how many weapons.

"Hold fire unless he attacks first, he may be a friendly." Steve whispered the orders to the two agents, whoever he was it was someone that conflict with was best avoided. They nodded and lowered their weapons but still held them tightly.

"Captain Rogers, we don't have much time." It was the first time the strange man spoke. Before Steve could respond he somewhat gently pushed past him and into the quinjet.

Steve was about to speak up when he noticed Natasha was unconscious. The stranger had made a beeline approach for the wounded assassin. He did a quick once over look at the young woman.

"Captain, I need your help. Get over here." The man spoke with an authority that reminded Steve of General Phillips. Steve's body was already moving in response to the tone of voice.

"Who are you?" Steve asked as he kneeled on the opposite side of Natasha. The shard of metal was still protruding from her abdomen but blood was running from her lips freely. She did not have long left.

"Endymion, proper introductions shall be for later, if Miss Romanoff is to be saved we must act with haste."

Endymion? So that was this man's name.

"When I give the word, pull the shard free." Endymion spoke as flexed his fingers of his right hand.

Steve was about to argue how bad an idea that was when Endymion's hand erupted in what looked like bright green flames.

"After the shard is out, I will need you to hold her down should she awaken. This is going to be extremely painful but it is the only thing that will save her life. If she is fortunate she will remain unconscious during. Are you ready?"

Steve swallowed heavily and nodded his head as he gripped the offending piece of metal.

"You will want to stop me, this will be very painful to watch, but you must restrain yourself. If you stop me during, she will die." Endymion's words sounded almost rehearsed, as if he had to say them many times before.

The next actions happened so fast Steve thought it took only an eye blink.

The super soldier ripped the metal shard free and tossed it aside just as Endymion pressed the flaming hand to the wound on Natasha.

The scream that came from Natasha's lips was nearly loud enough to shatter glass. She tried to pull herself away from the source of the agony but Steve did as he was told and held her in place. Thankfully he was far stronger than her so it was easy, at least it was physically. Mentally was a whole different issue.

Endymion was not making a joke when he said Steve would want to stop him, in fact, Steve had almost done just that until he looked at the wound on Natasha's abdomen. The flames on Endymion's hand were not acting like flames at all, they did not burn or skin or clothes, instead as Steve watched the gaping wound began to slowly close itself.

Natasha was thrashing around wildly trying to break Steve's hold but the super soldier held fast. She did not seem to be the only one in pain though. Steve caught a glimpse at Endymion and saw the same look he had seen many times back during the war when a man tried not to let his pain show. Endymion's jaw was clenched tightly and he was sweating heavily. If his face was any indication, he was in more pain than Natasha was. He must have an abnormally high threshold for pain, he was not making a single sound. His eyes said it all though.

After what felt like an eternity, Endymion pulled his hand free. He sucked in a heavy breath as he wiped his brow on his sleeve. Whatever he had just done seemed to have taken quite a bit out of him.

Natasha had stopped her struggling the moment he let go. The wound having completely vanished, not even leaving a scar. The only evidence of it having been there was the torn catsuit and blood.

At first Steve started to panic when Natasha ceased her resistance. This faded quickly once he realized she was only unconscious, but her breathing was steady. Either way she was going to be fine.

"She'll be alright, the healing process is more than a little traumatic with a wound that severe. She will be weak when she wakes but after a little bit of rest she will be fine." Endymion spoke as he stood to his feet. "Sorry about that, I would talked first but she did not have the time."

Steve looked up at the newcomer and saw the hand extended out to him. Steve took the offered hand and Endymion helped him to his feet. The silver eyed man shook his hand slightly.

"The Traveler, Endymion, at your service. Nice to meet you Captain Rogers." For the first time, Steve saw a small smile grace the man's face.

A large figure suddenly landed outside the quinjet. Steve did not get a chance to say more before Thor was rushing into the compartment, hammer held ready for battle. "Steven! Natasha! My friends are you unharmed?"

Steve let out a soft breath. Better late than never though. "We're fine Thor, thanks to him." Steve motioned to Endymion.

Instead of offering a handshake like he had Steve, Endymion bowed slightly to Thor. "Hail, Thor Odinson, prince of Asgard, it is my pleasure to make your acquaintance."

To the best of Steve's knowledge that was more like how you were supposed to greet a prince, like Thor, on Asgard. Something like that, also as far as Steve knew, no one on earth ever did. The look on Thor's face supported such an idea.

For that matter, Steve noticed something else odd about Endymion, his speech was occasionally changing. He would talk like someone from modern times but then he would randomly switch to a more old fashioned way of talking and back and forth.

Just who was Endymion?

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**This is going to be a multi-chapter story. Also a clue for everyone, Endymion is **_**not**_** an Asgardian. **


	2. Guest

**Another round of Savior. To those who are interested in Endymion, look at my profile for something called The Legend of The Traveler. It sheds a little bit more light on who he is, but not much. He's meant to be ambiguous. Also look for a collection of stories all with the title Saga of The Traveler, Savior is one of them. I am still building the collection but at the time of this writing there are three. **

**Now then...**

**Enjoy.**

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Steve has had strange days before, waking up after the crash in the ice and the invasion of the Chitari ranked fairly high up there, but this one was up there as well.

A short while after Thor's arrival, another quinjet had shown up to bring them back to the Triskelion for debriefing. Thankfully most of the men had only superficial injuries, hardly any broken bones or anything like that. The worst injury had been Natasha, but that man, Endymion, had saved her life. Apart from a torn catsuit, a few scrapes and bruises, she was perfectly fine. Steve almost could not believe it, he would not have if he had not seen it for himself.

Endymion still puzzled him though. He was obviously a friendly but where did he come from? Why was he there? Why did he save them when he did? Questions like these were swimming around in Steve's head.

After the extraction quinjet had arrived, Endymion helped them to load everyone aboard and climbed on with them. The whole time he was dead silent. He said only a single sentence the whole ride back.

"I need to speak to Fury when we return to the Triskelion."

After that he did not make a peep. Even when Thor had tried to thank him for saving the lives of two of his dear friends he only acknowledged the Asgardian's thanks with a simple nod of the head. It was as if he did not want to be thanked, that or he did not care for it.

Exactly what this man was, Steve was still trying to figure out. He had asked Thor if he knew him but the prince did not. Something Thor had said left Steve feeling a little disturbed.

"I know not what he is, but I can tell you this my friend, he is not of Asgard."

So Endymion was not an Asgardian. Steve did not know many alien races but to the best of his knowledge the only ones who looked human and were capable of what he saw were the Asgardians. He must be something else, something they have not encountered before. Something far more powerful.

Furthermore, what else was Endymion capable of? That weapon that everyone was afraid of had been operational, it blew their quinjet out of the sky after a single direct hit. Against Endymion it seemed to have been no more effective than throwing pebbles. Using whatever strange powers he had he just blocked it and then, if Steve was correct, bounced it right back at them. Then there was his ability to disappear and reappear at will.

He did save the whole team from a massacre though. At least he seemed so far to be a friend. Did not take away from the fact that he was dangerous.

After they returned, Natasha was taken away to be examined by medical. Since Thor had to leave on other business, Steve escorted Endymion to Fury's office alone. Once more not a single word was exchanged the whole walk there.

Now Steve was just waiting for the man to come out and for further orders from Fury.

After about a twenty minute wait the door finally opened. The two men stepped out into the hallway alongside Steve.

"Captain, I want you to take our... guest, to the tower. He will be staying with you for a time." Fury was his usual authoritative voice but something was a little off. As Stark had once said, Fury was not just a spy. He was _**the**_ spy, he was a master at camouflaging himself, his emotions, and his thoughts. After being alone in a room with Endymion, a crack seemed to have formed in Fury's steel mask.

Fury was unnerved, that was it. Perhaps even disturbed. Whatever these two spoke about, it was something that bothered Fury.

Steve was not one to question orders. "Yes sir."

Just as quickly as they arrived, Steve was leading Endymion back to the landing pad to catch a ride back to the tower.

When they were seated for the trip back to Avengers Tower, Endymion finally spoke.

"Sorry if my silence is a little unnerving. I had to clear something up with Fury first."

Steve looked up. It was the first thing he said since they left that mission zone. "Clear what up?"

Endymion smiled. The first non-neutral expression he had made this whole time. "That I was not one of his subordinates. I am here to help until I am no longer needed then I shall move on. I had to make a threat to get him to understand."

Steve was more than a little worried now. "Threat? What did you threaten him with?" There was not really anything you could threaten Fury with. The man was as rigid as a vibranium beam.

Endymion shrugged. "Threatened to kill him if he did not back off. I believe I got the message across."

At first Steve thought he was making a joke to get a rise out of him. Stark did that all the time.

This man did not seem to be making any form of a joke though.

The way Endymion said that so callously... He had threatened to kill Fury, no one was insane enough to do that. This man just acted like it meant nothing to him.

"Don't worry, I would not have actually killed him. Would make thing a bit difficult if I did." Endymion chuckled quietly.

Steve decided to somewhat change the subject. "Why are you here? To help with what?"

Endymion rested his elbows on his knees as he leaned forward in his seat. "That is not something I can tell you, but when the time comes, and it will soon, I will be here to... intervene."

The cryptic attitude was starting to give Steve a headache. It was also making him wish Natasha was here. She would maybe be able to get something out of him.

Then again, there was something else Steve noticed about this man. Whenever someone saw Natasha, male attention would always linger. Sometimes female too for that matter. She was attractive, no one doubted that. Endymion however did not give a second look. It was as if he did not even notice.

It was more than a little odd.

When they finally arrived at Avengers Tower, it was still night. Natasha was left with medical at the Triskelion while Thor was off doing his business, likely visiting his girlfriend Jane. Clint was off on a mission of his own for SHIELD. That left Banner and Stark at the tower. This late hour though Stark was definitely asleep with Pepper. Banner was more than likely asleep in his own room.

Of course this left Steve to figure out where to put Endymion for the night. The decision was made for him when the two men arrived in the common room.

Endymion sat down on the floor with his back to a wall and his legs crossed. He looked up at Steve. "This will be adequate for me."

"You sure? There's the couches or I'm sure a spare room around here somewhere I think." Endymion was still their guest. He should not have to sleep on the floor.

Endymion smiled. "I've slept in bloody fields full of fresh corpses while nuclear bombs were falling around me before. That did not even break my top worst twenty. A clean, carpeted floor is comfortable, trust me."

Steve opened his mouth to respond to that but immediately closed it. He was not sure he wanted to know anyway.

"Uhh... alright. See you in the morning then. Night." Steve turned to leave.

"Sleep well." Endymion called out before he left the room.

This guy really was weird. Considering the fact the Avengers consisted of a super soldier from the forties, a, in Stark's words, "huge green rage monster", an alien prince, two assassins, and a genius billionaire in a metal suit, Endymion was still very weird. The man acted like he was both from another world and another time all at once.

Steve was still not quite sure he wanted to know the man's story.

One of his last comments had Steve thinking as he made his way to his own room. He said he had slept in bloody fields full of fresh corpses while nuclear bombs were falling. The man seemed to be telling the truth, he had no reason to lie and his voice did not sound like it was a joke. Just like what he said about the threat to Fury.

What he said though should have been imposable. In Steve's research of history, one of the few recorded use of nuclear bombs was toward the end of World War II after Steve had crashed the Red Skull's plane. Two such bombs were used against the Japanese people to force a surrender. One word Endymion used is what really caught Steve's attention.

Bombs.

Not bomb, as in more than one. Steve was not aware of any point in history when multiple nukes were used against something or someone.

Even if he had been referring to World War II, that was not possible either. The man had to be in his mid thirties at most. He would not have been alive back then. However, Steve looked young and was alive back then. There was also those powers Endymion used to defeat those Asgardians. The man may actually be older than he looks.

Steve shut his mind off once he finally got into bed. Whoever, or whatever, Endymion was, he was a friendly and their guest. The mystery would remain to be solved until the morning.

* * *

**One of the hardest parts of writing fanfiction? When it feels like hardly anyone is reading your stories, it kinda makes you not want to waste the time to write them. **


	3. Avengers Meet Endymion

**In all honesty this is really just a filler chapter to allow most of the others to meet Endymion. Believe me, writing it just dragged on and on. I seem to have a hard time grasping the characterization of everyone. **

**Enjoy.**

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Tony Stark yawned as he made his way out of bed to the common room. Until he got his morning coffee, he was going to be a zombie.

He froze mid-step when he arrived in the aforementioned room.

There was someone already here.

The person was a man he did not recognize. It could not have been an intruder otherwise Jarvis would have gone on a red alert. Unless the AI had been disabled by someone but that prospect was unlikely.

Did not mean it was imposable.

The man was sitting on the floor with his back to a wall. His legs were crossed and his hands rested on his knees. A long and black, leathery coat covered most of his body.

Why this guy felt the need to sleep while wearing a coat was beyond him. Then again, why he was sleeping on the floor was equally beyond him.

Taking a step closer, Tony saw that the man seemed to still be in a deep sleep despite what had to be an uncomfortable sleeping position.

Something else then came to Tony's attention. The man was not moving at all in the slightest.

As in not breathing.

Groaning very softly, Tony tried to figure out what to do. If some intruder died in his tower he was going to have to figure out something to do with the body. Just his luck he would be the first to discover it.

Perhaps SHIELD handled body disposal. He could even get an Avengers discount if he was lucky.

By now Tony had dropped down to one knee in front of the dead man to get a better look at him. It was certainly someone he did not recognize or remember.

Something in particular caught his eye though. There were odd markings all over his neck and throat. They looked like they were tattoos of some sort. Leaning in close, Tony saw that they were not tattoos, they were scars. No two were alike and, if the pattern continued as Tony thought it did, they continued on beneath his coat and whatever that was over his chest.

Wait... was that combat armor?

Now Tony was less than a foot away from the intruder. He saw that beneath the coat the man definitely wore some form of armor. It almost resembled Kevlar but it did not match anything known to Tony. In fact it almost looked as if some guy had taken a suit of armor out of a science fiction novel then mashed it with another suit of armor from a fantasy book to create something completely new.

Once Tony got rid of the body he would love to check this stuff out. It would be useless for his suit but little red, Katniss, and cap would definitely be able to make good use of it.

"Take a picture." Tony had just started to reach foreword to touch the armor when the voice startled him. "It'll last longer."

Tony had both nearly jumped out of his skin and may have let out a rather unmanly scream when the 'dead' man spoke. The billionaire had thrown himself back on his rear before he realized he was moving.

The very much alive man was still sitting in the exact same position except now his head was up instead of limp. A single open eye was regarding Tony with a tinge of amusement.

"Jesus..." Tony grumbled under his breath. So much for scavenging new armor for capsicle and the others.

"Stark? I thought I heard someone yelling."

"Yeah, I didn't know we had any little girls in the tower." Clint's voice quickly followed the first.

Speaking of capsicles. Seemed like birdbrain and Steve had both heard him. That was just great.

With what little dignity remained, Tony rose to his feet to greet the two new arrivals. Steve was still in his night clothes while Clint was in his SHIELD suit, he must have just now got back to the tower.

Both men had just happened to be close enough to hear him yelling. That was just his luck.

"Don't you two have better things to be doing than sneaking up on people?" Stark glared at the two men, trying to deflect attention away from him.

"I just got here, no sneaking, and nice try Stark but we still got you." Clint responded with a chuckle.

Tony was already batting for zero today apparently.

"My apologies, I should introduce myself." The voice pulled Tony's attention back to the 'intruder'. "My name is Endymion. Fury sent word ahead of my arrival."

Endymion? That name seemed familiar to Tony. It dawned on him after a few moments, a memory from the night before.

* * *

Tony grumbled as he rolled over in bed. His sleep was being interrupted by the phone on his bedside table ringing. The billionaire sat up partially and let out a large yawn as he reached for the device.

"Tony Stark." Tony muttered sleepily into the receiver.

"Stark, it's Fury."

Tony let out a groan as he heard the voice. What the man could possibly need, Tony did not know or even want to know. He was surely tempted to just hang up on him.

"What is it?"

"I'm sending someone over with Captain Rogers. He'll be staying at the tower for a few days. Just giving you a heads up, Steve is already on his way with him."

"Yeah, yeah alright." Tony said just before he hung up the phone and flopped back down to the bed to resume his sleep.

* * *

So Fury had said something about it. Well it was Fury's fault he did not remember. The SHIELD director should have known better than to call him in the middle of the night while he was sleeping.

"So Endymion huh? Who are you supposed to be?" Clint for the first time regarded Endymion with his assessing gaze.

It was actually Steve who answered. "This is the guy that bailed me and Natasha out on our mission the other night. He's the only reason the team not only had no casualties, but also the reason Natasha is alive."

That seemed to make Clint do a one eighty turn.

"Well then you have my thanks." Clint held a hand out to the man, whom took it and shook it without hesitation. Natasha was practically Clint's best friend, Tony figured if Clint was not in front of him and Steve then he might have even given him a hug or something.

Endymion gave a nod of the head. "It was no trouble, I happened to arrive at just the right time. You must be Agent Barton right?"

"Yeah, call me Clint. What are you doing here anyway?"

Tony was wondering that himself. Fury had not told him anything, just that he would be staying for a while.

"I am here to assist The Avengers, but I will only be here for a few days. Only as long as it takes then I shall move on." Endymion spoke as he looked over at Tony. "Thank you for allowing me to remain here for the duration of my stay."

Tony was not the one allowing squat in reality. It was Fury who said to put him up for a bit. This guy did save Natasha's life though, and maybe Steve's as well. That made him more than welcome to stay in the tower for a while in his book.

At that moment a few things caught Tony's attention. The first thing was the cool looking silver of the man's eyes. As far as he knew, such a thing did not exist without contact lenses. Since he was standing so close, Tony could see he had none in his eyes. This meant the silver color was all natural. Another thing was the man's speech. He did not speak like someone from the twenty-first century. It reminded him a bit of Steve and his upbringing in the past. Except Steve constantly spoke the same way, this guy did not. He went back and forth in how he talked but the most common was the older fashioned way of talking.

The eyes, coupled with the way he spoke, and the markings on his neck painted an odd picture. Tony rather doubted this man was from earth. Maybe he was even an Asgardian like Thor.

Speaking of Thor, the Asgardian prince was Steve's backup during the previous nights mission so he would have met Endymion already. Steve and Clint were in the room with him right now. Then there was Natasha who was still at SHIELD medical. The only Avenger left was Bruce.

Speaking of giant green rage monsters too, at the exact moment Bruce came strolling into the room but froze mid-step.

"Um... I've missed something haven't I?" Bruce looked each of them until his eyes settled on Endymion.

"Not at all Doctor Banner, this is our new temporary roommate. Endymion." Clint was the one who answered before anyone else got the chance.

By now, Bruce was standing beside the rest of them. "Ah, well nice to meet you. Bruce Banner." The doctor held a hand out for a handshake just as Clint had done.

"Pleasure to meet you Doctor Banner." Endymion gave a tiny smile as he shook the offered hand.

"I must admit, are you meant to be another Avenger?" Bruce asked curiously.

Tony had not thought of that until Bruce voiced it. The man was obviously not a normal person, it also made the temporary stay make more sense.

Endymion simple let out a quiet laugh. "No, I will not be here very long. A few days at the most. I imagine Fury would be wishing I would stay but no such luck."

So it would seem the Avengers would remain a six man team for now.

"Well hate to break introductions short but if I don't get some coffee soon I am going to have to start blowing stuff up." Tony clapped his hands together as he made for the kitchen island.

* * *

**As I said, filler chapter. It is about to get interesting in the next chapter. **

**Next chapter: "Six on one: The Avengers vs. The Traveler".**


	4. Avengers vs The Traveler

**At the time of this writing, all of the Saga of The Traveler stories show Endymion being the mentor. He continues that trend in this chapter but for the first time you get to see a small part of what he is really capable of in combat. **

**Enjoy.**

* * *

"Any clue why we are being called? Anyone?" Several of the Avengers groaned at Tony's words. It was about the sixth time the man had asked that question. Every time he got the same answer, various versions of the word 'no'.

Pepper herself was still trying to figure out why she was asked along as well. It was thankfully a day off for her so she was not missing much. Still, this did not make much sense.

It all began with a call from Fury for the Avengers to assemble. However there was no actual mission this time and the SHIELD director gave very specific instructions.

Odd though they were.

The first was that they were to dress in the simplest clothes they had, such as what they would wear to spar. Most of them wore simple t-shirts and sweatpants, Natasha and Tony were the exceptions though. The assassin swapped out the shirt for a sports bra while Tony was allowed to wear whatever he wanted.

The second was to bring their normal mission gear but they were not allowed to wear it. Tony was told to bring two Iron Man suits, one with no weaponry, the other like normal.

Fury only told them this was for a unique training exercise but he would not elaborate further.

Now they were all on board a quinjet, flying to some SHIELD base up north, exactly where Pepper had no idea. The director of SHIELD was going to meet them there for whatever this was he had planned.

The even strangest part was onboard the plane with them.

That quiet guy that was staying at the tower per Fury's request was also with them. He sat off to the side, quiet and still. Tony had warned her that he was not actually dead or asleep, only looked like it.

Pepper could not help but smile when she heard about Tony's scare from the other day.

Endymion, that was his name. He kept to himself around the tower mostly. Occasionally he would talk to one of the Avengers if they were in the tower. He knew quite a bit, even gave Tony some tips to improve his suit if it could be believed. Sometimes he spoke philosophy with Steve and Bruce.

The only thing Pepper knew about him was that he was responsible for saving both Natasha and Steve when their mission went awry. That instantly made Pepper friendlier to the man.

Besides, he may be quiet and keeping to himself, but he seemed like an alright person. His behavior actually reminded her a lot of Steve. That old fashioned way of acting and speaking, except Endymion acted even more so than Steve. Pepper could have sworn the guy spoke like he was straight out of the middle ages.

After the quinjet finally landed, the occupants all filed off one at a time. Fury was already waiting for them at the helipad. The SHIELD director led their group to a large open field. If Pepper had to guess, it looked a bit like a training ground of sorts.

Naturally, it was Tony who spoke up first. "So Nick... what's going on?"

If Fury was upset about Tony using his first name he did not show it. "That is actually not up to me, Miss Potts, there is a spot over there you may sit." Fury pointed to a nearby set of bleachers.

Unsure what else to do, the woman moved to take a seat.

"Endymion, the floor is yours." After speaking the words, Fury moved to stand beside the bleachers alongside Pepper.

The man in question stepped forward. "Alright, now before any of you ask, this exercise is my idea. We're borrowing a SHIELD training ground for the day."

Pepper observed in disbelief. Who was this man to be able to have this much pull with Fury?

"Okay... so what's going on then?" Tony looked just as confused as the rest of them.

"Simple, we are going to have a combat exercise." Endymion spoke as he walked over to the bleachers as well. "Now, first rule is for this part no weapons or devices are allowed. Only natural abilities and skills. Some of you will be put at a disadvantage, this is part of why Mr. Stark was allowed to bring his suit. Thor for example has his natural abilities as an Asgardian, Mr. Rogers is similar. Doctor Banner has his other side, while Agents Barton and Romanoff have their own skill sets."

For the first time since Pepper had met the man, Endymion removed his coat. After he draped the garment onto the metal seats of the bleachers, Pepper got her first real look at what was under it.

Tony had been right. That was some kind of tactical armor over most of his body.

"Now, you all get your innate abilities, but so do I."

Even crazier was his back, he wore a harness of some kind covered in weapons. It actually appeared to have once been a shoulder holster but was heavily modified. There was also a lot more than a simple pistol on it. His entire back was covered in various weapons. The first he removed was a pair of slightly curved and jeweled daggers, the next was a pair of revolver pistols that looked like something out of a steampunk movie, the final item was a small silver rod. Pepper assumed the rod must have been a weapon of some kind as well.

Endymion slowly and neatly set all of the items down on top of his coat. Once he was done, he removed the harness as well.

"Today I will teach you two lessons." Endymion spoke as he began to unclasp the upper portion of his armor. "The first I will tell you outright, the second I leave for you to figure out."

Once it was loosened, Endymion pulled the armor from his body and sat it alongside his other equipment. Leaving his entire chest, back, and arms visible.

Pepper stared in wonder at what was revealed, she was not the only one either.

Everyone had seen the marks on his neck. The ones that looked like symbols in some language no one knew. Tony told he that they seemed to be in a pattern and if he was right then they went on further. The man had no clue how right he was. The scars continued on over his entire body. Except for a single spot on his chest and a matching one on his back. The two spots were a different kind of scar, these not in any shape whatsoever.

"First lesson," Endymion stepped back out to stand out in the open. "Up until this point you have never encountered an enemy you could not defeat. No matter the effort, no matter the time, you were always victorious."

By now, everyone had sat their duffle bags beside the bleachers and were standing before Endymion in just their workout clothes.

"Today you face me."

More than a few of the Avengers looked unimpressed. Endymion was after all just one guy. How much damage could he do against all of the Avengers?

Steve looked uneasy, he was the only one present who had actually watched Endymion fight. He may know something the others did not.

"You want all of us... to fight you?" Clint sounded like he was caught between disbelief and thinking this was a joke.

"Yeah... I have to admit this is a little foolish." Natasha followed up.

"Ditto." Tony spoke next.

Endymion gave a small smile. "Well then what is there for you to be afraid of?"

Thor shrugged and stepped forward to stand directly in front of Endymion. "I have heard tales of your prowess in battle."

"Thor, hold on, do not underestimate him." Steve pleaded the prince.

Thor just waved away his concerns. "It would be my honor to face such a..."

Thor never got to complete his sentence.

The initial roundhouse kick caught all of them off guard. As did the follow up uppercut to the Asgardian's stomach. The third hit came from al elbow drop to Thor's back, the final hit that knocked him down. A soft clap of thunder followed up each strike. The end result was that the Asgardian prince was lying face first in the dirt in a daze.

Everyone save Fury and Steve, the former looked as stoic as ever while the latter looked only partially surprised, looked on in total shock. A human just took down one of the greatest warriors of Asgard.

Had she not seen it with her own eyes, Pepper would not have believed it.

Endymion turned to face the rest of the Avengers. "You must never hesitate, show me no mercy for you shall receive none. To stand a chance to defeat me, you must come at me with the intent to kill."

Pepper wondered which of the Avengers would be insane enough to make a second attempt.

Turned out it was Clint.

Instead of talking, he charged. The scarred man dropped into a hand to hand combat stance and deflected Clint's first attack out wide. Moving faster than anyone Pepper had ever seen, Endymion latched onto the archer's arm and twisted hard. Clint let out a quiet gasp as Endymion pulled his arm forward to throw the SHIELD agent off balance. Before Clint could recover, Endymion dropped low and swung a foot out to take Clint's legs out from under him. Clint jumped over the attack but that was exactly what Endymion had been expecting, his hand shot foreword and caught on to Clint's shirt and slammed him hard into the ground back first.

Thor's attempt lasted three seconds.

Clint's only lasted five.

Steve winced visibly. "I tried to warn them."

Even the fearless Natasha took a step or two back away from Endymion. The man in question had not even broke a sweat and stood exactly as he had done before Thor attacked.

Pepper was starting to wonder if this guy was actually human or not.

"If it makes you feel any better, you do not have to defeat me to complete this exercise. Merely land a single strike." Endymion said the words like it would be so easy to accomplish.

Steve and Natasha shared a look along with Tony, whom by now had donned his Iron Man suit.

Thor and Clint had arisen back to their feet and were standing off to the side. Despite the brutality of their respective takedowns, the pair looked no worse for the wear.

Next Tony attempted, in Tony fashion of course, to attack. Even without any of his weapons, the Iron Man suit was quite formidable and had a lot of strength. Tony made several attempted punches but Endymion moved so fast that each was a complete miss. Their fight only lasted about the three seconds it took for Endymion's hand to touch the side of the suit. All of a sudden Tony froze in place as if the suit had been short-circuited.

Tony then fell to the ground when Endymion lightly tapped his chest with his foot.

Endymion planted a boot on the chestplate of Tony's suit. "As I said, my own innate abilities are also fair game." He then turned to Steve, Natasha, and Bruce. "Next?"

Natasha made the next move. Her approach was much like Clint's but she had more speed, mobility, and flexibility on her side. Despite this, she only lasted six seconds. She was very fast, but Endymion was far faster. He caught her wrist and twisted, then flipped her over his shoulder to the ground.

While his back was to Steve, the super soldier attacked. Pepper figured that Steve assumed Endymion would be distracted by Natasha.

He was completely wrong.

Without even looking, Endymion kicked his foot out behind him and caught Steve directly in the stomach. The momentum of his run added to the force of the impact. Steve's breath was blown out of his lungs on impact, another quiet clap of thunder followed the strike.

Before Steve had a chance to recover, Endymion whirled around with an elbow out and struck Steve across the jaw. Endymion then easily dodged the clumsy punch that swung his direction. While still crouched, Endymion whirled around to stand behind Steve. He followed up with a kick to the back of Steve's leg to force him down to one knee. The final blow came when Endymion planted his open hand on Steve's back. The super soldier's body seized up much like Tony's suit had. Steve let out a sharp cry of pain as he fell foreword.

Pepper stared in utter disbelief. This one man had managed to take down five Avengers so easily it was terrifying.

"Doctor Banner, we are going to need some backup for this one." Steve slowly stood up on shaky legs as he looked over his shoulder at the man still standing off to the side.

"I'm not sure that's such a good idea..." Bruce was always nervous about letting the Hulk out.

Pepper really could not blame him.

"This exercise applies to all of you, so he is a necessity." Endymion called over to Bruce.

The doctor sighed as he removed his shirt. He had packed an extra set of clothes but old habits die hard.

Within moments his skin bulged and turned green as the Hulk was set loose.

Since New York, Bruce had been working hard on his control of his other side. That still did not stop Pepper from being a little nervous about being so close to him. Neither did it stop the small shiver that ran up her spine.

The Hulk let out a mighty roar as it charged Endymion. While everyone else dove out of the way to make sure they were not remotely close, Endymion simply stood in place.

The man was even smiling!

Just as the Hulk was about to crash into him, Endymion disappeared and reappeared behind him. It took a moment for the Hulk to realize his quarry was no longer in front of him. When he did, he turned and charged again. A second time, Endymion pulled the disappearing act. This continued multiple times, each time the hulk attempted a charge, Endymion would appear behind him.

Was he teleporting or something? Considering Endymion could electrocute, if that was what he did to Tony and Steve, with a touch then Pepper did not think him teleporting that crazy a thought.

On the seventh attempt, Endymion switched tactics. When the Hulk turned to no doubt try again, his opponent struck. The first blow was a heavy punch to the Hulk's face, just like before a clap of thunder followed. Even crazier, the Hulk was actually staggered by the force of the blow.

By the time Pepper managed to blink, many more punches had followed the first. The strikes were so fast that the claps of thunder almost sounded like a machinegun firing.

The final blow was a nasty uppercut right to the Hulk's chin. This time the hit was followed by thunder and a flash of what Pepper swore was lighting.

The flurry of punches was so intense that the Hulk never had a chance to retaliate, and now the last hit knocked him on his back.

Pepper was far past simple disbelief now, her jaw was almost hitting the floor. Endymion just managed to take out not three, not five, but all six Avengers, one after another. He still looked like he had only just began. These were supposed to be Earth's mightiest heroes and this guy just made them all look like small children.

"Now have we learned that mystery lesson yet?" Endymion spoke as he moved back over to the bleachers.

No one answered, they were all just as shocked as Pepper. Even the Hulk, who was always ready for a fight, was acting weary of Endymion. The Hulk might be a giant green rage monster, but he was not that stupid. On instinctual or animalistic level, he knew a tougher opponent when he saw one.

Endymion said not a word at first as he reattached the upper portion of his armor then donned his weapon harness.

"Second half of our exercise, equip your armor and weapons. You shall face me with your full arsenal." Endymion reached for his weapons one at a time and sheathed them on his back. The rod however, instead he held in his hand.

The moment he stopped speaking, everyone was in a flurry to get their weapons together. Perhaps with their normal equipment they might stand a chance.

"Miss Potts, if you would do me a favor?" The voice startled Pepper from her thoughts.

She looked up to see Endymion and his bewitching silver eyes focused on her. "Yes?"

"If you would be so kind as to remove this ring for me?" Endymion held a hand out to her on his right hand. "It is specially designed that I cannot remove it myself."

Pepper eyes the piece of metal jewelry warily. It was just a simple silver band on his index finger. Pepper had never noticed it before. What kind of ring was irremovable?

With a shrug, Pepper pulled the piece of silver from his hand. He took the ring and placed it into a pocket on his armor.

"Thank you," was all he said as he turned to face the now fully equipped Avengers.

With a flick of his wrist, the rod expanded to a staff almost as tall as him. With a twirl of the weapon, he draped it across his shoulders. "Shall we begin?"

The answer he received was an arrow shot from Clint's blow. To the shock of everyone present, Endymion dodged the missile and caught it. Before the Avengers could react, he hurled the arrow back at them.

Steve had managed to raise his shield to block the explosion that followed from reaching Natasha. The Hulk, Thor, and Tony just took it, while Clint dove for cover behind the Hulk.

Endymion was already moving when they recovered. He appeared behind Thor and landed a heavy strike with his staff to the back of his head, followed by a blow to Steve's stomach, then another to his back, sending both human and Asgardian to the dirt.

Natasha was the next target. Endymion hooked his staff beneath her leg and flipped her to the ground.

Just as Tony lifted a repulsor to attempt an interception, Endymion swatted the arm aside to make the attack hit Clint instead.

As Pepper watched the fight, she was still trying to comprehend what she was seeing. What the point of this exercise was supposed to be was lost on her. All she could see was Endymion repeatedly kicking the asses of the entire team.

"Director, I just don't get it. What's the point?" Pepper looked over to her side to see Fury was sitting beside her on the bleachers, watching with that same stoic look on his face as always.

"You don't get it?" Fury began, his eyes never leaving the team. The Avengers were too distracted to hear them talking anyway. "What do you see?" Fury motioned to the fight ahead with a nod of the head.

Pepper again looked to the team's battle. Just in time to see Tony take a nasty hit to the back of his armor. She tried to suppress her wince as the man went down.

"All I see is Tony and the others taking an ass kicking."

"That's part of the lesson."

Pepper stared at Fury in absolute disbelief. She opened her mouth for a retort but he cut her off.

"He is teaching them first how to lose. Then there is only a single way they could get a hit in on him." Fury again motioned to the Avengers. "What do you see them doing wrong?"

Pepper again looked but did not see anything. Except for the Hulk taking a huge bolt of lightning to the face, sending him flying back.

Pepper was no soldier, no strategist, how the hell was she supposed to see something on a battlefie...

The realization hit Pepper harder than a sack of bricks.

Taking a moment, she observed the fight once more. Thor had just tried to get a hammer strike in but that staff deflected the attack, then proceeded to knock Steve's shield down mid-throw immediately after.

That was what they were doing wrong. The Avengers were full of headstrong and hard headed people, solo acts. The kind that had always fought alone and still won. Tony especially had a problem fighting as part of a group.

They had only managed to team up in New York after Phil was killed, and because the fate of the planet depended on them. Now, they did not have that spark, that do or die need to work together.

Endymion was trying to get them to attack him as one. Although powerful, Endymion was only a single person. He only had two hands, two eyes, could only react to so many threats at a time.

Pepper also began to see the importance of such a lesson. They needed to be able to fight together without the death of a friend to spur them on.

They had better figure out quick, Pepper was unsure how much more of this beating they were going to be able to take.

It was a short while later when the Avengers finally figured it out.

Natasha had just been knocked aside again, when Thor charged with a lightning bolt of his own. Endymion swatted the attack aside. While his back was turned, Steve threw his shield once more. The shield was too close when Endymion managed to react. Instead of hitting it with that staff, he threw his body backward to dodge.

Pepper thought that Natasha was flexible. A human spine was not meant to bend that far back.

While Endymion was down, Clint fired another arrow. Endymion jumped and twisted mid-air to avoid the missile. By now, Natasha had gotten back up and lunged at him again with her widows-bite gauntlets. At the same moment Steve was coming at him from another side.

As Pepper watched, she began to see that this was a lot like a game of chess. Endymion was the opposing king and they needed to somehow corner him. A single hit was all they needed, the man was not making it easy though.

At first it was slow going, but the Avengers began making two pronged attacks, then three pronged attacks.

The final attack started with the Hulk. Just as he had done at the start, he tried to charge. It of course failed but that was the intention.

Endymion had pulled his disappearing act again but when he reappeared behind the Hulk, Clint was already waiting. The arrow he fired did not shoot directly at him though, instead it target his feet. Endymion jumped backward to dodge the explosive but when he did, Thor and Steve made their move. Both men threw their hammer and shield respectively. Endymion twisted his body to dodge the two weapons.

The whole time he did not have his eyes on the sky.

Just before Endymion managed to plant his feet back on solid earth, Tony and Natasha made their move. At some point, Tony had grabbed onto the back of Natasha's catsuit collar and lifted her a little ways into the air. While Endymion was dodging the two weapons, Tony dropped her directly on top of him. She landed widows-bite first to his neck.

Pepper knew those gauntlets could take down a fully grown man much larger than Endymion. However except for a sudden twitch from Endymion's body, coupled with the physical force of gravity pulling Natasha down, he did not react much. He simply grabbed onto Natasha and swung her around. This time he did not throw her aside like a ragdoll, he instead sat her back on solid ground.

Endymion started clapping.

"Well done, well done all of you." Endymion smiled at the Avengers. "You figured it out."

Pepper looked over all the Avengers. She certainly hoped it was a worthwhile lesson, they all looked like they were feeling every bit of the beating they took.

Endymion on the other hand did not even have a scratch on him, not even from Natasha's final attack. It was not every day that the Avengers met an opponent they could not defeat.

"I need a vacation..." Tony grumbled quietly.

* * *

**I'll be honest, I did not like the way this one turned out. For some reason I had trouble with the battle scenes. To those curious, I chose Pepper's view because I did not want to use one of the Avengers and Fury I could not nail down. **

**Next chapter begins the multipart finale.**

**I am also considering revealing for the first time more of exactly what Endymion is. Some feedback would be greatly appreciated. **


	5. Hell is Unleashed

**Beginning of the two part finale for Savior. Originally I was going to do a single chapter for this then another for the epilogue but I decided this was instead. **

**Enjoy. **

* * *

Natasha had learned a long time ago how fast a situation could fall apart. It was said that on the battlefield the first casualty is often the plan. That phrase was so true that it would have been funny, if she and the others were not so close to death.

"Come on Steve, just hold on!" Natasha hissed quietly to Steve as she did her best to support the wounded super soldier. He was quite heavy in muscle mass alone but Natasha just gritted her teeth and refused to give up. He was able to walk but only barely, Natasha was supporting most of his weight so he would not fall.

She was not hurt hardly at all beyond a few scrapes and cuts. Due to her skill set, she was not in the thick of the combat like the others had been.

The captain was hurt the worst out of all of them. He had taken a beyond brutal beating and been stabbed multiple times by sharp spines. It would have been worse if Thor had not torn Steve's attacker from him.

The entire front of his uniform was shredded and covered in blood. Some of it running onto Natasha, staining her black catsuit red, but she barely noticed.

Natasha had done enough in her life to make even her death lousy penance. Not Steve though, she was going to see him survive this even if it killed her. It was the least she could do since he was hurt so badly because he shielded her.

Under normal circumstances Thor, or any of the other physically stronger Avengers, would be helping Steve. However the Asgardian was already carrying an unconscious Banner. The other two were in no condition to be helping either.

Thor was hurt almost as bad as Steve, but he was going to die before he would admit it or leave a comrade behind. There had been no telling Thor no even if the others were not as injured.

In front of their battered group was Clint. His bow had been broken a while ago along with his arm, so he ditched his quiver of arrows. Instead he was now carrying a loaded automatic rifle slung on one shoulder so he could fire from the hip. Not the best front defense but it was all he could really do with his injury.

Tony was in the back, his armor had been torn in multiple spots. Only one repulsor was functional and his power levels were dangerously low. He was told not to help with Steve or Bruce because he needed to conserve power if they were attacked again.

If they were... there was a high chance they would not survive another assault from those creatures. The things were everywhere. They were worse than cockroaches, at least insects you could stomp and kill. These things varied in size but took a lot to bring down, were covered in sharp spines and more muscular than Thor. It was them that took out Clint's arm and bow.

The smaller ones tended to move in packs like wolves. They did not have the strength or spines of the others but instead had sheer numbers and razor like claws. Tony's armor was shredded because he had been dog piled by several groups of them at once.

It was something else that got to Thor and Banner. The thing had been huge, easily fifteen foot tall with multiple arms and tentacles coming out of its back. The Hulk had tried to rush it and beat it to death but the tentacles had lashed onto him. Natasha was not sure how but it almost was as if the tentacles had sucked the life and energy right out of him. It only took less than a minute for the Hulk to revert back to Banner.

The whole time that was happening, Thor was smashing through a horde of the monsters to reach him. By the time he did, the Hulk was already gone. The Asgardian prince laid into the thing and killed it to get it to release the unconscious doctor.

While he was doing so, another equally large creature flung several spines into Thor's side moments before Stark popped it with a missile barrage.

Thor did not let the injury slow him and killed his opponent and fought on until they were clear.

Ever since this mission had started they were battling for their lives against these otherworldly monsters. They were like nothing Natasha had ever seen, even in terms of aliens. Thor had no clue what they were, which was a rarity. The Asgardian knew most of the aliens that were out there in space but these were something else.

Something far deadlier.

This entire nightmare began when SHIELD picked up a strange signal originating from a small frozen island off the coast of Greenland. The signal seemed to be a large power source of some kind. Whatever it was, it was not human made. Fearing another potential alien invasion, Fury deployed the Avengers to investigate but not to engage unless they had no choice.

The first red flag should have been the fact that the GSP and satellites had this island as a black spot on all charts. Except for the mystery signal there was nothing else coming from or going to this place.

Tony had joked the island was probably haunted or something along with a quip of whether or not this was actually the Bermuda Triangle they were being sent to. Natasha had scoffed at the very idea at the time but had quickly rescinded that opinion upon their arrival.

The moment she set foot on the dirt here something felt very wrong. It was like the air itself was not as it should be.

Had she of known then what was going to happen she would have asked Fury to send a hell of a lot more backup for the Avengers.

Shortly after the quinjet dropped them off and left, they were under attack. Dozens of these things had been on them within seconds of each other. After fighting them off, they tried to contact Fury for an update that they were compromised.

They were met with only static. Something on this island was jamming all radio signals.

They had seen what looked like a radio tower in a compound of some kind as they landed. So they had decided to make their way there to see if they could get any answers or if they could contact SHIELD.

It had been a huge mistake.

After reaching the radio tower, they found to their horror that the equipment was already demolished beyond repair. Even Tony said it was hopeless to fix.

To make matters even worse was that the base seemed to be where these things were coming from. Specifically, the subterranean part.

It was their escape from the radio tower that most of them had been injured. Dozens of the monsters, but these with wings, had ambushed them. They were the source of Steve's injury. One had swept down to attempt to snatch Natasha in its claws but Steve pushed her out of the way and took the hit instead. Like a wolf seeing wounded prey, another was upon him the moment Steve fell.

After the fliers were dealt with, the larger ones showed up to move in for what they thought was the kill. Somehow they had managed to kill them all but not without injuries among most of them.

Now they were trudging on, all but Natasha injured and partially crippled. They were dodging groups of the monsters as they went when they could.

Natasha had realized too late they were being herded. Focusing too much on Steve, she had not been paying attention, none of them were.

It was not until they walked right into its perimeter did they notice they were being led back to the compound with dozens of the things right behind them.

The Avengers attempted to run but only made it as far as the courtyard of the base when another group appeared in front of them. Followed by two more groups on their right and left.

They were completely surrounded on all sides.

On the ground, on the buildings, the creatures were everywhere Natasha looked. There was not just dozens now.

There were hundreds.

Even at full strength, Natasha was not sure this was a fight the Avengers would have been able to win. If Endymion were with them maybe they could have.

That had been another red flag in itself. Endymion had been on the quinjet with them before they arrived. He would not say why he was there but did not get off with them. As far as Natasha knew, he was still onboard somewhere way above them.

It was right as the creatures began advancing on them that Natasha saw a bright flash of light high in the sky.

* * *

"I still can't get anything." The pilot of the quinjet grumbled.

The plane's co-pilot had to resist slamming his fist on the controls. Nothing was working right. Their orders were to wait a safe distance away while the Avengers scouted the island but now they lost contact. The radio only had static, even while trying to reach SHIELD itself there was nothing.

Something on the island was jamming all signals.

A hand on the backs of their seats caught the attention of both pilots.

"Gentlemen we do not have long." That other passenger, Endymion was standing behind them. His coat removed and resting on a nearby seat. "The Avengers are running out of time."

The co-pilot was about to open his mouth to say something but the other man cut him off. "What do you need sir?"

Looking at his partner, the co-pilot wanted to ask what he was doing but he answered before the question could be voiced. "Direct order from Fury himself, if this guy gives an order, pretend it's a direct order from Fury himself."

Endymion ignored the exchange between the two pilots. "First off, remove these two rings for me please." Endymion held his hands out to the pilot, whom pulled the rings, one on each hand, off without hesitation.

"Now, you will not be able to reach SHIELD by radio for a time." Endymion began. "Wait up here until I give the signal then land for an emergency extraction." With that, Endymion turned to walk to the back of the quinjet.

"Wait a sec, what's the signal?" The pilot called back to him.

By now, Endymion was at the back of the quinjet. He had already opened the back ramp into the cold night air.

"A fireworks show," was all the odd man said before leaping from the quinjet.

"Was he wearing a parachute?" The co-pilot leaned over to the other man.

"No."

* * *

The Avengers had backed up together, forming a defensive square with Steve and Banner in the center. If these creatures wanted to get to the two injured men then they were going to have to go through the other four Avengers first.

The beasts were so numerous that it was not going to matter what defense was drummed up. They were going to be overrun within seconds.

By now, the things were packed all around them, the horde less than two dozen feet away. There were so many packed shoulder to shoulder that Natasha could not see the snow beneath them.

Just as the first group rushed forth to begin their attack, a baseball sized golden light streaked down from the sky.

The first monster was a few steps away when the light struck it and obliterated the thing. Within seconds, more lights were falling.

All around the Avengers, the lights fell. Each ball was like a grenade going off when it hit something. The monsters were being decimated by the dozen on impact.

Trying to avoid the barrage, the Avengers had clustered as tightly together as possible because they quickly realized something.

The deadly lights were avoiding them completely.

All over, the lights were falling but in a circle around where the Avengers were standing, the ground was completely untouched. The snowy ground had been vaporized into normal dry dirt, the only snow remaining was the perfect circle where the Avengers stood.

All in all, Natasha felt much like someone had called an artillery strike down right on top of their heads. Regardless, it was the only thing that saved them from being ripped apart by ravenous monsters.

When it finally ended, barely a handful of the creatures were still alive. All the dead ones were gone. Likely turned to dust by whatever it was hiting them.

Natasha thought that was it until another light came down from the sky. This one much larger than the others.

He looked every bit like a guardian angel descending from the heavens. It took Natasha a moment for it to register what she was seeing before her.

Endymion stood before them now. From his back were golden, bright translucent angel wings. In a single blink of the eye they were gone, but the man himself was still there. He was missing his normal coat but that was not that strange.

It was his eyes.

Normally they had been silver like polished jewelry, odd though that was, they were even weirder now.

His eyes were literally glowing with a pale blue light.

The view of Endymion's eyes lasted only a second for Natasha. The creatures must have sensed a new threat because they were instantly upon him.

He moved before Natasha even got the chance to blink.

Endymion was a whirlwind as he drew the short blades from their position on his back. The three smaller monsters that attacked him were dead before they could raise their claws to attack. Without even looking, Endymion ducked and drove his blades backward into the two beasts coming up behind him. Both were killed instantly.

A loud roar then sounded throughout the courtyard.

When Natasha turned toward the sound, she saw yet another creature different form the others. This one had the similar spines all over it, but this looked like a cross between a rhino and a black panther.

It was already rushing toward Endymion when Natasha's eyes caught it.

Endymion was already mid-charge when Natasha turned back to him. He sheathed his blades at his back and went in with his bare hands. Just as the brute was going to pounce on him, Endymion dropped into a kneeling position.

To Natasha's surprise, she Endymion was sliding across a patch of ice that had appeared at his feet. The man slid directly under the panther-elephant and swung his fist up at the creatures underside. A loud clap of thunder followed the blow.

Endymion rose back to his feet mid-slide and stopped. The beast behind him hit the ground with a heavy thud, a huge smoking hole blown through its body.

If Endymion was the source of the falling lights like Natasha thought, then that would mean he just decimated all of the creatures!

There had to of been hundreds of the things!

Natasha knew the man was tough, their previous battle was more than enough proof of that, but this was something else.

Endymion looked around as if searching for any other threats. Before Natasha could call him over, he suddenly appeared at their side.

Even Natasha could not help but jump in surprise.

"Captain Rogers is badly wounded but he will survive even without my help." Endymion was kneeling at Steve and Banner's sides. "As will Doctor Banner but we have more serious concerns."

"Like what?" Clint was glancing over in their direction but was surveying the area for more hostiles.

"Indeed my friend, you slew all of them." Thor sounded impressed. Hell, Natasha had to admit she was too. Not everyone was a literal one man army.

"You don't understand. They found a rip. If it is not sealed soon..." Endymion began but was cut off when the ground began to violently shake. It was so intense that most of the Avengers were thrown from their feet to the ground.

Endymion froze.

The man hissed something under his breath in a foreign language that was definitely not from anywhere on earth. "He's here."

Rising to his feet, Endymion glared ahead as the quake ceased. The look in his eyes chilled the near fearless Natasha down to her very core. If looks were able to kill, that scowl would demolish entire planets.

"What the hell was that?" Stark groaned as he climbed back to his feet.

Endymion was dead silent, scarily so.

"How many more could there be?" Natasha asked. It was a question she was not entirely sure she wanted an answer to. If Endymion's behavior was any indication, something was coming.

Something far, far worse than what they had already faced.

Endymion turned to her, his glowing eyes boring into her own. "Those several hundred demons were only the vanguard, the first wave has not even arrived yet."

* * *

**Hope you all liked it. Leave a review please so I know what you all think. **

**Next chapter is when things get intense: He Who Brings the Shadow.**


	6. He Who Brings the Shadow

**Finale of Savior, after this chapter there will be an epilogue then that is it. Due to a lack of reviews, I'm getting this done quickly so I can move on to other stories. **

**Enjoy. **

* * *

Natasha almost had to pick her jaw up from the floor. How the hell was that not the first wave?! There were hundreds of the damn things!

"How many are there left?" Clint questioned. Natasha could tell he was just as spooked as she was.

Endymion was silent at first, his eerie blue eyes staring straight ahead at something Natasha could not see. "The rip has allowed something that does not exist to enter your world, an abyssal gate has been opened. The demons that will pour forth are infinite, they will come like an ocean of death upon your world. All will burn." Endymion looked all around them. "It will begin soon."

"What will?" It was Natasha's turn to ask.

"To seal an abyssal gate you must find he demon lord it is tied to. But demon lords are arrogant creatures. They will not show themselves until they grow tired of their minions failures."

"Wait... what the hell is an abyssal gate?" Stark questioned, his voice was a bit more steady than Natasha would have expected.

"It's a doorway to the real of demons. Hell, the abyss, the void, all names for the same place." Endymion explained. "It doesn't exist in your world though. Or at least it shouldn't"

Natasha did not know what that was supposed to mean but she was cut off by Thor's question.

"How many must be slain to draw him out?" Thor asked as he dropped down to one knee beside Banner. His own wounds were catching up to him fast. Natasha was amazed he held up as long as he had.

"Depends, the waves differ greatly in number. I once had to carve through more than two hundred before the lord showed himself. Even when they do, the demon lord alone is a difficult foe to face."

Endymion turned to look at Natasha. "The lord by himself could decimate your entire planet if allowed to reach full strength."

Natasha felt her blood run cold.

Just as Natasha opened her mouth to ask more, Endymion was already moving. Faster than her eyes could follow, he drew those revolvers from behind his back. He twirled them around in his hands so that he was holding them but the barrel instead of the handle.

"Take these," Endymion said as he held them out to Natasha. Not knowing what else to say, she took the weapons. "The ammunition is infinite but they can overheat, fire only if you absolutely have to. If they become too hot to hold just flip open the cylinder for a few moments."

Endymion was walking away before anyone could ask anything else. Standing in the middle of the compound, the man remained staring ahead.

It was right then that Natasha noticed how quiet it had become. There was not a single sound, no wind, nothing. A speck of dust could have fallen and all would have heard it.

Even Natasha could feel fear beginning to well up in her chest. Something about all of this was just so unnatural. Like when you were somewhere you knew you were not supposed to be.

If the looks on the faces of the other Avengers were any indication, that feeling was fairly universal among them.

Suddenly Endymion was shouting something. It was a language Natasha did not recognize. Just hearing it made her ears feel like needles were being shoved into them. She winced as she tried to cover them but the sound just reverberated through her entire body.

As if in response, the ground began shaking again. This time, something else happened.

As the earth shook, a loud crack was heard. Far away from them, Natasha saw it. The very ground opened up and an archway of some kind rose from it. It was almost twenty foot tall, the stone it was made from was blacker than a starless night sky. All over it was bleached white skulls and bones of all kinds.

Many voices seemed to be whispering from it, Natasha could hear it all in her head despite her distance from the thing.

Just looking at it made Natasha want to vomit.

The direction that Endymion had been focused on the entire time was exactly where the archway appeared.

This must be what he called an abyssal gate.

In a flash, more of the monsters, demons if Endymion was telling the truth, were surging from it. They just appeared and came running out in massive hordes. Within moments they were all surrounded again, this time by even more than they had been for a while ago.

Natasha looked around and noticed something strange. The Avengers were all wounded and crippled, easy prey. Not a single one of the demons was looking at them.

All of their attention was focused on Endymion.

Just as quick as they arrived, the demons rushed forward again but this time to encircle Endymion. The man did not react much, he only looked around at the horde. If he felt any worries about being surrounded and outnumbered he did not let it show.

Almost all demons stayed back out of arm reach, one stepped forward. It was one of the smaller ones but slightly larger than the others. Possibly an alpha of some kind. It spoke something in that same language Endymion used before the arrival of the portal.

As man and demon spoke, Natasha saw that Endymion was deathly still. Since his back was to the Avengers, he almost looked like a statue.

What the two were talking about Natasha did not have the slightest idea. Endymion's voice was calm and still. The demon's own seemed a bit... frightful. Maybe the two were negotiating, it almost seemed like the demon was offering terms.

If it was negotiations, they must have broken down because in an instant Endymion attacked. A ghostly blue wristblade, the same color of his glowing eyes and scars, appeared at the end of his arm. With a swing he cleaved the demons head right off. A second blade appeared at the end of his other arm and it severed the arm of the next demon to approach. The blades appeared just as suddenly as they arrived.

The demons never got a chance to attempt a retreat before Endymion made the next move. With another swing of his arm, a huge wind appeared and blew the demons back. His opposite arm also swung out but this one instead of creating wind, created a colossal spider web of lightning strikes.

The end result was that Endymion formed a giant lightning storm all around him.

Instead of attempting a counter-attack, the demons just fell over each other in their attempt to get away from the man.

As the weaker demons ran, a larger one came forth. One of the ones that wounded Thor latched a tentacle onto Endymion's arm.

For a moment Natasha was worried that it would do to Endymion what it did to Banner. Whatever it was had been strong enough to take down even the Hulk.

It did not seem to have any effect whatsoever on Endymion.

Using the same arm that was being held by the tentacle, Endymion gripped it in its hand. Natasha could see the tendrils of electricity that surged up into the demon. It roared in agony as it was fried to a crisp. Endymion simply tore his arm free from the charred tentacle's grip with minimal effort.

Natasha was even more dumbstruck than when she had seen Endymion's arrival.

The man had just shredded the entire force of demons in less than a few minutes.

In a blink, Endymion was standing before them again. "One down."

"I shall fight beside you my friend." Thor moved to stand but before he could even reach his feet, he fell back down with a groan.

"No, you have all done enough. You have leave to rest." Endymion's voice took on a little softer edge. "I will take things from here."

"How the hell did you do that?" It was Stark who voiced Natasha's thoughts.

Endymion chuckled. "Been doing this for many millions of years. Plenty of practice."

Did he just say he was... how old was Endymion?

That question was going to have to wait for another day. Another horde was coming out from the gate as fast as the last.

Endymion flicked his wrist and formed a blue whip, once again the same color and appearance of the glow from his body. Endymion did not even look at first as he swung the new weapon out behind him.

It sliced through the demons like a burning knife through paper. As he twirled around, he formed a second whip from his other hand and lashed out with both to tear the demons to ribbons.

This group fell just as quick as the last. As did the next, and the one after that as well. Each wave of the monsters that came was mercilessly torn apart by Endymion. Fliers, the larger beasts, nothing could get past him.

The man still did not have a scratch on him. Hundreds of the demon monsters at a time and he was not touched once. He was not even breathing heavily either.

How on earth were they meant to be able to fight a guy like this the other day? He must have been holing almost everything back to even give them a chance.

Natasha had lost count of the groups that came through the gate but it stopped all of a sudden. No more demons came through the gate but something was off.

Natasha remembered Endymion's words. They needed to kill the demon lord, nothing matching its description had yet to appear. Even if it did... Natasha hoped Endymion would be able to stop it. His description of the thing did not inspire confidence.

Next thing Natasha knew, the silence was split by the loudest roar she had ever heard in her life. It was a scream of pure rage and suffering given physical force.

Natasha fell to her knees in a futile attempt to cover her bleeding ears from the sound. It was as if she was feeling it more than she heard it.

Even Stark, sealed as he was in his suit could not escape the sound. Endymion seemed to be the only one unaffected.

"Show yourself demon!" Endymion's yell was almost as loud as the other, it seemed to banish away the first. "I can keep killing your slaves for a while longer if I have to!"

Then Natasha felt it. It was as if all the air had been sucked out of the area, leaving her gasping for breath. She could practically feel the energy being sapped away by something.

She looked up just in time to see the massive clawed hand reach through the archway. Natasha's eyes grew so wide they nearly fell from their sockets as the creature pulled itself into view.

It was the largest thing the Russian woman had ever seen. Twenty foot tall, it was armored in many plates made up of spines and charcoal black scales. Claws larger than cars tipped each of its four hands. The massive horns atop its head were positioned as if acting like some kind of crown. Flames and smoke covered it like a shroud.

If there was a more perfect image of what the devil could look like, Natasha had never seen it.

Gripping the two revolvers in her hands so tightly her knuckles turned white, Natasha had never felt so small or powerless in her life.

"About time demon, I was getting bored kicking the crap out of your legions." Endymion seemed utterly fearless. In fact, if anything he sounded impatient.

"Magi..." Natasha again felt the voice more than she heard it. It was thick and raspy, like if someone had not drank anything in a long time. "I eagerly look forward to mounting your head above my new throne."

Endymion scoffed. "You'll have to first take your throne demon."

"You face the great Lord Atihtazor magi whelp. I will not suffer your insolence!" With that, the creature brought a huge hand up straight toward the Avengers. A giant pillar of black flames surged toward them.

Natasha did not get the chance to yell for help. Endymion had already appeared in front of them. The moment he lifted his arm, a sphere of light had formed around their whole group.

The flames struck their shield and tried to push through but the it stood firm. Endymion himself looked as if he was putting a lot of effort into holding the barrier in place.

When the flames stopped, Endymion dropped the shield in a dazzling display of sparks.

"That the best you got?" Endymion was goading the demon lord. Natasha was not sure if that was a smart idea but this guy was the expert after all.

Endymion stomped his foot hard into the ground. A large spike of rock shot out from the ground toward the demon lord Atihtazor. The creature easily swatted the attack aside like a fly but it had been only a distraction.

Endymion himself was already rushing forward.

Drawing his blades from his back, he was only halfway to the demon when he was spotted. Atihtazor swung an arm, throwing many tendrils of black smoke that shot toward Endymion like many small whips.

The man easily ducked and weaved among the attacks. The ones he did not avoid he would disappear for a fraction of a second and reappear on the opposite side to dodge.

Atihtazor was unable to bring up a second attack before Endymion had reached him. The man carved deep cuts into Atihtazor's legs as he ran past.

The demon lord's attacks turned physical. He tried to crush Endymion beneath a swing of his arm but the man jumped over the attack. Landing back on his feet, Endymion slashed several more cuts into Atihtazor's scaly body.

Natasha would not have thought his blades to be able to slice through that armor but apparently whatever they were made of was not simple steel.

Atihtazor himself howled in agony with each hit.

The black smoke around Atihtazor's hand coalesced into the shape of a huge axe. The demon lord swung the weapon in a mighty swing to try to cleave Endymion in half at the waist.

Endymion jumped and twisted mid-air to roll over the weapon.

As Natasha watched, she saw that the hordes of demons were back. Only they were not attacking anymore. Instead they seemed to be watching the battle unfold.

It almost made Natasha feel like they were in the coliseum, except here the patrons were too terrified to make a sound so they would just watch in silence.

Endymion's luck finally ran out when one of the smoke tendrils lashed around his ankle. Before he got a chance to slice if loose, he was hurled aside across the dirt.

The demon lord moved with great speed despite his large size. Before Endymion could rise he hefted the axe above his head and brought it down.

Endymion threw up another shield to deflect the attack but that was all it did. The glowing sphere cracked like glass on impact.

The next attack came before Endymion could raise another shield.

From the demon lord's spare hand he let loose a geyser of black flames directly on top of Endymion. Natasha remembered clearly the last time Atihtazor had used that move. The shield Endymion used had barely held up against it.

This time, the flames did not stop. Atihtazor held the attack going, like if a person wanted to make sure a bug was dead when crushed. He held it so long that when he finally stopped, there was dust all over the air.

Natasha stared in absolute terror as Atihtazor backed away in mocking laughter. There was no movement where Endymion had last been seen.

The man was dead.

Everywhere the demon minions cheered.

The Avengers only stared in horrified silence.

That was when the demon lord turned toward the Avengers.

After seeing what happened, Thor was not going to just sit back anymore. The Asgardian price forced himself back to his feet with hammer in hand as Clint took up a position beside him. Stark held his last repulsor up on the other side of Thor. Natasha herself held the two revolvers up as she moved to stand beside the billionaire.

The four of them formed a human shield between the demon lord and their two wounded team members. If Atihtazor wanted to take their world, he would first have to get past them.

"Is this all your world has left to offer?" Atihtazor laughed. It was a hollow mocking sound that made Natasha want to plant a bullet, or whatever it was those guns shot, right between his eyes.

She contemplated doing just that when she heard it.

" ATIAHTAZOR!"

The yell was so loud and intense that even the demon lord was affected by it. A look that could only be described as shock passed his features.

The eyes of demon, human, and Asgardian all turned to face the sound.

The dust from a moment ago had begun to clear. Among it stood a single figure, its features were still shrouded in the dust cloud. The golden wings are what revealed who it was.

Atihtazor was unable to respond fast enough. Endymion shot out through the air toward the demon lord. Flying by, the wings cut deep into the flesh of Atihtazor's side.

The demon lord roared as he tried to swat Endymion like a literal fly. None of the blows connected however. Between being airborne and his ability to vanish then reappear, nothing could hit him.

Endymion flew high into the sky for the final strike.

Natasha could see him from the ground only because of the glow from his wings. His entire body lit up as if he were a living lightning bolt. Then he came screaming down like a meteor from the heavens.

Atihtazor threw up several tendrils of flames and smoke but Endymion dodged them all easily.

When Endymion connected, the clap of thunder was deafening.

Atihtazor's head exploded on impact like a watermelon into a mess of dark blood and gore. The shock wave threw both the Avengers and the hordes of demons clear off their feet.

The ground shook once again when the demon's twenty foot tall headless corpse fell. Only the quake did not stop. This earthquake was much more intense than the last ones. The earth everywhere began to crack and split. The ground beneath the demons gave out and sent them all tumbling into a flaming abyss.

The archway began to crack and splinter as it too began to fall apart. The voices from it now turning to screams.

Endymion rushed over to them, somehow keeping perfect balance despite the ground moving. The rest of the Avengers almost could not even get back to their feet.

"What's going on?" Clint yelled just before he fell onto his broken arm with a gasp of pain.

Endymion said nothing. He only threw up a ball of light that soared high into the sky. It exploded into an array of colors in the black sky much like fireworks would.

Within in moments, their quinjet descended. The moment the aircraft was down everyone was running to board it. Thor had again picked up the unable to walk Banner while Natasha and Stark helped the wounded Steve walk. Endymion made sure they were all onboard before he even stepped on.

"Go!" The moment he jumped on Endymion was shouting to the pilots. The quinjet took off just as the ground where they were fell.

After they were all strapped in, Natasha watched from the open loading ramp. The entire island collapsed into itself and sank into the ocean.

Not a trace was left behind that it ever existed.

* * *

**Hope you all liked the finale. Next up is the epilogue. **


	7. Epilogue

**Final chapter of Savior, this one will reveal a bit more about Endymion but not everything. His story continues elsewhere. It is also meant to be short since it is only a epilogue and I want this story done.**

**Also a bonus shout-out to Marvel-Tolkien Fangirl, whom (at the time of this writing) has been my only reviewer for this story. She's been one of the best reviewers a guy could ask for and one of the reasons for this story getting finished. **

**Enjoy.**

* * *

"You bastard!" Clint all but screamed as he landed a brutal punch to Endymion's jaw.

"Clint!"

"Whoa there, ease up Katniss!"

Endymion barely reacted to the hit. Apart from being physically moved upon impact, he did not flinch or make any attempt to dodge or block the hit. They all knew he could have easily done so, even without Clint's arm being in a sling.

With a snap of his fingers, a small green flame appeared on his thumb. He slid the flame along his split lip causing the wound to close and disappear almost instantly.

Natasha thought that, in all honesty, Endymion probably deserved that one somewhat. That still did not give Clint good reason to punch the guy that could so easily kill all of them.

The russian woman would never admit it, but she was still more than a little rattled by what happened during their last mission. They should all be dead, the entire team. They had been surrounded, the creatures closing in for the kill.

Had Endymion not shown up when he did... Natasha shivered at the thought. She had faced all the wickedness that humanity could offer and come out on top of it. Those demons were an entirely different story.

Almost all of the team's injuries were already taken care of. Banner was fine once they were off the island and he could rest, Thor and Steve both healed quickly, Stark only had his suit shredded, Clint was the only one with a more lasting injury with his broken arm.

Endymion himself had a few scrapes, bruises, and burns from his battle with the demon lord. Just like with his lip, he used that weird green flame to heal them. It was the same way Steve told her that she was healed when they first met Endymion.

"Are you finished?" Endymion asked perfectly calm for a man who was punched second ago.

Clint's only real response was a growl of pain. The hit had jarred his broken arm again.

Natasha really could not blame Clint for hitting him. Endymion had been asking for it when he confessed that he knew what the Avengers were walking into. He knew what was on that island waiting for them. The russian assassin was pissed too, but not too much to ignore the man's reasons.

"You would never have believed me had I explained it." Endymion spoke as he looked at Clint. "Demons do not exist in your world. You could have never seen them coming."

That caught Natasha attention. "I don't know what you saw but they seemed pretty real to me."

Endymion turned his gaze to her. "Rips are gateways, they allow something that does not exist to come forth from elsewhere. There are other places, ones where demons not only exist, but are commonplace." The thought of those monsters being a regular sight was more than a little disturbing.

"You need not fear them coming back, the death of the lord sealed that gate forever, the rip itself was only ever open for a fraction of a second, just long enough for some of the demons to come through and pave the way for the lord." Natasha was a little relieved to hear that. "Rips are so rare an occurrence that you will never see one again. The formation of one is such a low chance it is almost imposable."

"Why not come with us? You could have spared a lot of injury." Steve spoke up next.

"It is not my place to fight your battles for you. I stepped in only when I was needed." Endymion's words sounded a little like they had been spoken many times already. "Most of the time I am a teacher, I cannot give you the answers, only show you where they may be found."

Now was as good a time as any to get some answers that have been nagging at her since they fled that island. "Just what are you? Some kind of angel?" If demons existed that was true for the reverse right? "That demon called you something just before he attacked."

Natasha could not get the image of Endymion fighting out of her mind. The wings, the powers, the glow of his eyes and scars, hell just the way he fought! There was no way this man was human. Just what was he though?

Endymion chuckled slightly. "Magi, it is one of the more common terms for people like myself. Despite outward appearances, I'm human." Endymion looked away for a moment before continuing. "These," he pointed to his eyes and back, likely meaning his wings for the latter, "are not mine."

Natasha caught something in the way he said the words. Endymion normally spoke perfectly calm and flat, not monotone but in a perfectly calm and collected manner. His last comment lacked that same strength, instead he sounded almost... sad.

Next there was his eyes and body language. Part of Natasha's job was to read and predict people. The silver eyes were always so impenetrable, giving away not a single trace of thought or emotion. Now they held a crushing look of loss that was beyond anything the redhead woman had ever seen. His body posture spoke something completely different from what he had been moments ago, he appeared to age drastically in seconds.

"They were a parting gift from..." Endymion stopped himself mid-sentence and changed the subject. "It matters not." Just as fast as his demeanor changed it when back to what it was a few moments ago.

"Just what is a magi?" There was Stark's characteristic curiosity.

"Beings of terrifying power. We can be human, Asgardian, elf, Zehoberi, Loxodon, anyone. Not all of us are sorcerers like myself."

"What, you mean you're a wizard?" Clint scoffed quietly.

Endymion gave him a look. "You're friends with an alien prince from another planet, and recently fended off an invasion by a different alien race, then faced a near demon armageddon. Is magic really that hard to believe in?"

Clint had no response for that one.

"Magic is not really known all that much around here. Where I'm from it was very common place." It did not escape Natasha's attention the way Endymion referred to his place of origin in the past tense.

"You said 'beings', just how many of you are there?" Steve piped up again. "Are there more on Earth?

"We are even rarer than the rips, there are just a tiny handful of us. A couple million at most." Endymion responded with a slight shrug.

Almost everyone's eyes practically bulged out of their heads but it was Stark who spoke first. "Dude, that's a hell of a lot more than a 'tiny handful'."

"You do not understand the grand scope in which we magi exist."

Natasha was about to ask something else but Endymion looked out the window at the horizon in the distance. "It is time for me to go, I have done what I came to do so I must move on."

"What are you talking about?" Natasha asked.

"I am called The Traveler for a reason. I came to ensure your world did not fall to the demon hordes, now I must take my leave." Endymion moved for the door. "You will likely never see me again."

Everyone was still stunned at everything he had told them in the last few minutes to even think of stopping him.

The man paused at the threshold into the room. "Just remember something, you stand a better chance of protecting this world as a team. The stronger the bond, the better you fight."

With that, Endymion walked out the door. Natasha instantly gave chase, there was still many more unanswered questions. When she looked out in the hallway the man was gone.

When she tried asking Jarvis where Endymion was, her only answer was that he was no longer in the building. How he could have gotten out that fast, Natasha had no idea.

* * *

Endymion had not been joking when he said they would never see him again.

The Avengers never forgot the advice he had given them. After he left they became stronger, not just as a team, but as friends, as a family.

Even after the fall of SHIELD, the Avengers never forsake each other. There were many situations where they came close to losing one of their own. It was these times the Avengers would fight harder than they ever have in their lives.

Years after Endymion's short stay with the Avengers, the team would always think back to the mysterious silver eyed man that taught them such an important lesson.

He was indeed a teacher like he claimed. Only he was more than just a teacher to them.

Endymion was their savior.

* * *

**Not so sure about this one, to me it feels a bit rushed. As I said, the story of Endymion continues elsewhere in other tales. **


End file.
